Process and apparatus for inking embossed work



March 24, 1931. M. w. cANr-IELD 1,797,323

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR INKING EMBOSSED WORK Filed Dec. v9, 1929 Patented Mar. 24, 1931 UNITED vfsfrarssi MELVVI'LLE W. CANFIELD, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA recense AND APPARATUS ron INKING nMBossEn WORK Application led December Inthis specification, and the accompany ing drawing, I shall describe and show a preferred kform of my invention, and specifically mention certain of its more important 5. objects. kvI, do not limit myself to the forms disclosed, since various changes and adaptations may be made therein without departing from the essence of my inventionas hereinafterclaimed; and objects and advantages, le otherthan those specifically mentioned, are

'included within its scope.`

Myv invention relates to means Vfor inking embossed surfaces; such as raised letters,vde

signs, andE borders. Among its principal ,ob-v

jects are: first, to provide an improved means for inlzinfg such' surfaces to secure sharply defined outlines, and to` eliminate fringing effects; second", to effect a materialr saving of ink required for this purpose; third, to

"2t lii'aleit possible'A to ink raised borders, etc.,

that'enclose other raised work; fourth, to 'afford facilities `for',inking different portions of raised work in different colors, at one operation; and, fifth, tol provide simple and practicali apparatus foraccomplishing the 'above results.

My objects are attained in the mannerV "g4-0 ila'r partsy throughout thefseveral views.v

Y Fofthepurposes of this disclosure,l have selected .as an illustration of the application of my' improved process, a method o'f inking certamjraised surfaces on a book cover 5,.. T-husthe words Calif and Process, com'- prise-embossed letters 6 and 7 respectively. Thewrd- Process is enclosed' within a yborder` 8 whi'chfis also embossed. It will be nted thatY the letters'composing the word al'ifW'are plaeed uponthe' bookcover dia'gl PATENT oFFicEl f onally; and we will assume that they are to be colored yellow, and that the letters com- 9, 1929. serial No. Aliases'.

posing the word Process, and the border therearound, arevto be colored red. n

The simple form ofl apparatusshownfo'r accomplishing the above purpose comprises a bed-plate 9, having parallel longitudinal V-grooves 10 near the respective edges there#l i of,l and a longitudinal raclrfll at one side. At the right-hand end ofthe machine is an elevated ink-fountain 1 2,-adapted for being variably divided by removable partitions 13. This fountain has' a slot 14n atthe bottom, extending from one end tothe other, and di# rectlyV below the lslot is a rotatable Vdistributing roller 15. Thisis mountedin bearings 16: on the frame of the. fountain, and is f adapted for being driven at av uniform rate of revolution, as by the pulley f A carriagel 18, of invertedlJ-shape, having wedge shaped feet 19'engaginggrooves 10, is longitudinally slidable .upon the bedplate. ATheopposed legs v"of this carriagey are horizontally slotted, as shown at 20,' in such a manner a's'tdprovide guide-ways for hors izontally slidable blocksA 21, of which thereV is one at each side.y These bloclrsarepro'- vided' with outstanding lugs 22 carrying adjustably positioned4 eye-bolts 23.y rlension springs 24 are stretchedfzbetween these eyebolts, and studs 25 on the carriage. By means of these springs, the blocks 21 are normally constrained to remainI at the7 lefthand ends of slots 20.

Between blocks` 21, and carried thereby in bearings 26,'is'a freely rotatable application rollerv A somewhat largerinking roller 28 is rotatably mounted .directly between `the legs of tlm-*5` carriage" inj'bearings 29A."l VThe shaft ofthe *latter roller rkcarries a spur gear 30,'whi'chengages rackll and thereby ro- Y tates this `roller as the carriage is kpushed f back and forth in the ',Vfgroov'es of the base.

Operating handles 31 extend outwardly 'from blocks 21, andby their means carriage 18 maybe slid upon'the bed-plate from one' end t'o the -other. The motionof the carriage Y Vtothe rightv is limited by its feet 19 coming ,Y

in contact with feet 132V of the ink fountain. When this occurs, although the carriage can be pushed no further to the right, the blocks 2l can be moved further in this direction, by slightly stretching the tension springs 24. This allows application roller 27 to contact with distributing roller 15, and to obtain a supply of ink on its surface thereby.

Assuming that the raised work to be inked is embossed on paper or other yieldable material, it is usually best to place it upon an underlying die-plate 33. lnking pads 34, of relatively thick sheet rubber, are cut to shapes indicated by dotted lines 35, to include the raised lettering or other raised work that is'to be inked in any one color. These inking pads are then cemented to inking roll-er 28, in proper positions to register with the work that is to be inked. AdjustingV screws 36 (shown only in Fig. 2) are provided at each side of the carriage, to limit the left-hand movement of blocks 21, and thus provide any desired pressure of contact between application roller 27 and the inking pads 34.

Assuming that yellow printing ink 37 is deposited in section 38 of the ink fountain, and that red printing ink 39 is deposited in section 40 of the same, and that distributing roller 15 is being rotated by power applied through pulley 17, the operation is as follows The operator grasps handles 31 and pushes them toward the right soY as to move application roller 27 againstl distributing roller 15. he application roller will thus have imparted to it circumferential bands of yellow and red ink. As soon as the righthand pressure upon the handles is released, springs 24 will retract the application roller to the left, and cause it to contact with inking pads 34. rlhe carriage is then moved to the left by means of the handles, and the engagement between spur-gear 30 and rack 11 will cause inking roller 28 to revolve. The inks on the application roller will thus be spread upon the inking pads 34, and the latter will deposit'the ink in its respective colors upon the embossed work to be inked, as soon as the carriage is moved sufliciently far towards the left. Stops 41 prevent the carriage from over-travelling. The carriage is then moved again toward the right torepeat the process, and the raised work is again inked in so doing. The work thus treated is removed and replaced while the carriage is in its right-hand position.

Y From the foregoing description it will be apparent that embossed work of a great variety of design may be inked by my improved process, in a number of colors at one operation. It will also be seen that no sten cils are required in the process. Still further it will appear that enclosing continuous borders may be used, which is not possible when stencils are employed. lThe inkf' ing pads 34 may be madeof any desired thickness,` which is a very great advantage when the body of the work to be inked is rough, wrinkled, orbuckled. Finally it will appear that there will be a material saving of ink by reason of the fact that the ink is applied only to inking pads 34, and not to the entire surface of the inking roller.

Although, for the sake of simplicity, I have shown and described a very simple form of hand-apparatus for making use of my improved process, it will be apparent that the work may be accomplished by automatic masuch manner that the pad will come into rolling Contact with the entire area thereof.

2. The herein described process, comprising; making a pad of uniform thickness of a size and shape adapted to cover with small margins the boundaries of raised surfaces to be inked; attaching the pad to the periphery of a roller; uniformly inking the face of the thus attachedy pad; and moving the roller laterally and rotatively above said surfaces at a uniform distance therefrom; said pad being of a thickness adapting it to come into rolling contact with said surfaces when the roller is thus moved, and being so positioned upon the roller as to register with said surfaces as it passes thereover.

3. The herein decribed process, comprising; making a pad of uniform thickness of a size and shape adapted to cover with small margins the boundaries of raised surfaces to be inked; attaching the pad to the periphery of a roller; uniformly inking the face of the thus attached pad; and moving the roller laterally and rotatively above said surfaces vat a uniform distance therefrom; said roller being constrained to rotate proportionally to its lateral Y movement; and said pad being of a thickness adapting it to contact with said surfaces when the roller is thus moved, and being so positioned upon the roller as to register vwith said surfacesas it passes thereover.

4. Apparatus of the character described, comprising; means for supporting work having raised surfaces to be inked; a rotatable roller adapted for being laterally moved over said surfaces at a uniform distance therefrom; raised pads upon the periphery of the roller adapted to contact with said surfaces and to roll thereover; and means for uniformlyv inking the faces of said pads; the dimenj sions and shape of the pads, and their positions upon the roller, being such as to bring comprising;

them into Contact With the Whole area of the raised surfaces, With but small margin thereover.

- 5. Apparatusvof the character described, a bed adapted for supporting Work having raised surfaces to be inked; a

carriage upon the bed adapted for being" moved over said surfaces; a roller rotatably ymounted upon the carriage at a uniform distance from said bed; raised pads upon the 6; The construction vset forth in claim 5 n in combination With means for constraining` i the roller to rotate proportionally to lateral e y displacement of the carriage.

v7. The construction set forth in claimr in combination With; means for constrainingv f the roller to rotate proportionally to lateral y to contact with an ink sup displacement of the carriage; and wherein the means for inking the pads comprises an application roller adapted for lateral Inovement uponthe carriage, away from the pads,

ply. MELVILLE W. CANFIELD. 

